The Broken Soldier
by PaperMissShea
Summary: For years, Kona Donovan led the International Militaristic Intelligence Agency (IMIA) in the fight against all who would threaten the security of the free world, a secret sister agency to SHIELD created by Agent Carter. But after the fall of SHIELD, the IMIA is exterminated and Kona taken hostage. Can Fury and the Avengers find and repair the former director?
1. Chapter 1 (Prologue)

**Hi everyone! This is my very first published fanfiction! Please feel free to review, I would love to hear what you all think.**

 **I guess this is also the part where I say that I don't own Marvel (you'd think that would be pretty obvious considering this website is called FanFiction... go figure).**

 **I do however take full ownership for my character Kona Donovan and any other characters mentioned or affiliated with the Black Falcons (IMIA).**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

The streetside cafe was quaint, alive with the soft hum of casual conversation. A businessman sat sipping an espresso, skimming over a few legal documents. A young man and his fiance discussed wedding details while nibbling on pastries. Not even a trained eye would have noticed anything special about the woman in the corner sipping a cup of coffee over a plate of a few small pastries. She was dressed rather plainly, a casual t-shirt printed with a popular band, dark jeans, and converse. She sat alone, with no reading material or facebook profile to update, seemingly content with watching the pedestrians wander about the streets of D.C.

But Kona Donovan was no common cafe customer. She was waiting, and her wait was over once a dark skinned man in sunglasses slid into the ornate white seat across from her.

"You should try a cookie," she said passively. "They're really quite delicious."

"I would," he replied in a deep rumbling voice, "but my doctor has me on a strict low fat diet."

"Pity. More for me I suppose." she said with a small smile, plucking one from the plate. She knew Nick Fury, the director of her sister agency, but in her world there was no such thing as too cautious.

Without another word, Nick slid a tightly sealed folder across the table. "Read that carefully, then burn it." he said, lowering his voice a little.

She picked up the document and broke the seal with deft fingers. "You know our records are the safest in the world."

"Not for this it isn't," he said simply.

Kona raised an eyebrow as she quickly read through the only two sheets of paper in the file. "The Lemurian Star?" she said quietly.

"Agent Romanoff retrieved all the data we had onto a single flash drive not 24 hours ago." he said, leaning forward to avoid potential eavesdroppers. "But the files were sealed even to me."

"I didn't seal them, if that's what you're wondering," she said.

"I didn't think so, but doesn't hurt to ask."

Kona tucked the file into the satchel at her hip. "Something tells me you didn't call just to ask me if I've been messing with your op, Nick."

"No." he said gravely. "Kona, if you are the only reasonable person on a short list of people with the authority to seal such classified intel to the director of SHIELD, then this goes higher up the totem pole than I feared. Which means-."

"SHIELD has been compromised." she whispered, their worst fears realized.

Fury nodded. "You know what to do. I suggest you pull in all your people. Something big is about to go down, and when it does there can be nothing tying SHIELD to the IMIA. If either of us survive this, your agency will need to step in and pick up the pieces."

She took gulp of her coffee. She'd need the caffeine today. "So Code Revenant it is then."

He rose smoothly from his chair and reached out a hand to shake hers. "Good luck, Captain," he said. As he walked away, Kona quickly glanced at the small piece of paper he'd slipped into her hand, the number of the next burn phone they could use to contact each other. Committing it to memory, she tore it up into tiny pieces and tossed it into the last bit of coffee in her cup, watching the specialized ink dissolve before rising from her seat and placing her tip on the table.

She had work to do.

* * *

Kona lay still in the snow, the shuddering rise and fall over her chest the only indication that she was alive. Blood poured from several wounds in her chest and stomach. How had everything gone so wrong so fast? She had been prepared, pulled out every single one of her agents to her side no matter how sensitive the op. They had been armed and ready.

But nothing could have prepared them for the army that came after the single message she'd received from Fury.

HYDRA.

With all their skills, all their weapons, all their technology it all came down to a cruel statistical truth; 5/1. All she could do was watch in horror as her loyal agents, her closest friends, her family, fell.

One by one. They dropped into gathering pools of blood, their lifeless eyes staring vacantly into the cloudy winter sky. She watched as Steele, her best friend and lifelong partner, collapsed in the snow and the light faded from his cold blue eyes, his blood so fresh it melted the snow into which it seeped. She had screamed with such anguish that she barely noticed the five rounds she sustained and her body finally give out, unable to support her weight.

Now she lay there, numb, waiting for death to take her. She had lost everything, and now it was over. She was no doctor, but she had been in combat long enough to know that she had ruptured several major organs and sustained one collapsed lung. Captain Kona Donovan, the clever leader, the survivor, was not going to live through this one.

The cold and the loss of blood taking its toll, she barely heard the crunch of boots on snow as they approached her. Icy hands lifted her chin and a grinning face peered down at her, chuckling.

"Somehow I knew you would still be clinging on," he said in a deadly whisper. "Even after everyone else had passed." He rose and motioned for two HYDRA agents. "Take her for Project Sampson. Let us see how broken the Captain really is."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey y'all! So the previous chapter was obviously set in the events during or shortly after Captain America Winter Soldier. Now we jump ahead to events following Avengers Age of Ultron, with Kona having been held hostage for the time in between.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

A muffled cry sounded from outside the laboratory door, outside where reality existed. She hardly cared anymore. She'd given up on caring almost as soon as they'd captured her three months past. Or was it six? She didn't even know anymore. For all she knew the outside world could have passed on thirty years without her. In here it didn't matter, she had plenty to keep her company. The "doctors", the scientists, the pain.

So much pain.

Why she hadn't died yet was a mystery to her, for she had practically given up on living. There was nothing left for her out there anymore, nothing but the stench of death that Hydra left in its wake. Everything she'd worked for snatched from her grasp as her last agent lay dying in her arms, her best friend and practically family; her own heart slipping away as his cold blue eyes clouded over and gazed into nothing. And just when she thought they would have enough humanity to leave her to succumb to her wounds in peace, they came for her.

By now she'd stopped begging for sweet release and lay still, in silence, lost to the world, for no one was coming for a woman who wasn't known to exist in the first place.

A sudden bang sounded at the wall, followed immediately by a flood of bright light. Was this it? she thought. Was this her life finally slipping into a place beyond? Would she finally discover the answer to the age old question of where she was going?

A large, dark silhouette appeared in the doorway and approached the table upon which she lay. Strong hands lifted her body with surprising gentleness. "Oh Kona," he whispered sadly, his voice deep and rich like dark chocolate. "What have they done to you?"

She knew that voice, but from where? Her mind was too ravaged to process anything but one thing she knew for certain: _someone knew her name._

* * *

"Who is she?" Cap wondered aloud as he peered through the glass to the infirmary. The doctors were just finishing up their evaluation and treatment of the many wounds on the woman they had retrieved from the Hydra base.

"I was wondering the same thing," Natasha commented as she quietly approached him. Steve turned to her with an eyebrow raised.

"You don't know her either?" he questioned.

She shook her head. "No, which is what bothers me. I know a lot of people influential with Fury but I've never even seen her. And get this," she said showing him the tablet in her hand, "I ran her facial recognition through every database I could find and turned up nothing."

"Nothing? No passport or driver's license?"

"Not a thing. It's like she doesn't even exist. Either this mystery woman has been living in the Himalayas her whole life or she has some big secrets to keep. I'm willing to bet on the latter. I found this among her belongings we retrieved from where she was held."

She swiped the screen to show him an image of some sort of symbol sewn into dark clothing, likely a sleeve. The symbol was that of a rising bird, some sort of eagle or falcon, its wings stretched out overhead with the letters IMIA above its tips and three white slanted bars beneath its tail.

"Did you run this symbol through?"

Natasha nodded. "Turned up as dry as when I tried facial recognition."

His brow furrowed. "Did you ask Fury about it?"

"Not yet."

Steve Rogers pondered this silently. What secrets were so highly classified that even Stark's tech hadn't been able to find? And how was this connected to the former SHIELD director Nick Fury? The director had been strangely cryptic about his reasons for not only rescuing this woman, but also calling in the Avengers to ensure her safety. His experienced gut told him that there was something big at work here that they just didn't know yet, and he didn't like not knowing.

He finally turned back to Black Widow. "I think it's about time Fury gives us some answers."

* * *

"Who is she?" Cap ordered as he walked into the study, Widow in toe.

"Nice to see you too, Rogers." Fury commented passively from his place in a large cushioned chair.

Ignoring his attempt to dodge the question, Natasha continued. "Who is so classified that not even our systems can identify her?"

"That's something I would like to know," Stark said from behind them, surprising Cap that he had been curious enough to attend. "I don't like it when someone manages to evade my tech."

Fury sighed, obviously understanding that they weren't going to leave until their questions were answered. They had a right to know.

"You may want to sit down," he said motioning to the couch across from him, "This could take a while."

Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, and Natasha Romanov took their seats in the various chairs, eyeing him warily. Fury scratched his chin thoughtfully, trying to find where to begin.

"In the early days of SHIELD, Agent Carter and Howard Stark had to consider various countermeasures for protecting us should our security be under threat. They knew that if SHIELD was to someday be infiltrated there would be grave consequences if precautions weren't taken. So they decided on a solution that was so highly classified its secrets were passed down only verbally from director to director.

"They decided…" he paused, taking a breath as he was about to reveal one of the biggest secrets he'd ever carried, "to create a splinter unit of SHIELD, a sister agency."

Everyone present sat in shocked silence. "Wait," Cap began, "you're saying that there's another unit of SHIELD that possibly hasn't been infiltrated by Hydra?"

"Was." Fury responded, with a despondent look of finality. "This is where we come to our most recent guest here. She is the last of that sister agency known as the IMIA, the International Militaristic Intelligence Agency, or as they were more commonly known among themselves, the Black Falcons."

"What happened?" Natasha questioned.

"We thought that they had remained undetected by Hydra. The only contact SHIELD ever had with the IMIA since its creation is through a single phone number memorized by each director through which each leader can keep in contact should the need arise. This way there was no paper or electronic trail connecting the secretive organization with the more public SHIELD.

"Shortly after I was nearly killed by the Winter Soldier, I received a distress message from their director while still in recovery. The IMIA was being attacked. I had no remaining contacts I could trust to send in to assist them, the ones I did were busy trying to prevent Hydra from taking over anything else outside of SHIELD. They were slaughtered, down to every last agent. I saw the scene myself."

Fury paused for a moment, his fists clenched in anger and his brow furrowed. "They left their bodies to rot in the snow, deep in a European forest where the battle had taken place because not a single agent had ever, or ever would be, infiltrated or tainted by Hydra. I thought they were all gone until I noticed a body was missing, and I began to hope that somehow, someway Director Kona Donovan had survived."

The three Avengers looked sidelong at each other. "Director?" Stark wondered, "So, that's how you knew her?"

Fury nodded gravely. "They took her, barely alive, to experiment on. We won't know what they did to her until she wakes up."

* * *

Her head felt like it weighed a ton, although quite frankly it was a sensation she had become more accustomed to during her imprisonment. Yet… something felt different. She could hear soft voices about the room and the surface on which she laid was no longer a hard metal table but a bed covered in soft linens. She felt...stronger, healthier than she had been in a long time.

She cautiously opened her eyes to the soft white light, moving her arms ever so slightly only to find them restricted by metal cuffs.

That, she didn't like. Suddenly, her senses snapped into an alert awakening, the world around her sharpening to an unnatural clarity. She could feel the slight humidity of the air wet against her skin, hear the beating hearts of the doctors who attended her, see every hair and every pour from across the room.

A sudden rage coursed through her. Pain she could deal with, but chains were unacceptable.

Strength flooded her veins and with no effort the cuffs snapped as she ripped them from the bed frame. She swung her legs around the side as the nurses began to respond.

"Ma'am, you must stay calm," a young Asian woman said gently in an accent Kona knew distinctly to be Korean, South Korean to be exact. She may have listened to her had she not noticed a second nurse approaching her from the side with needle in hand. She snatched it before it made contact and with astonishing speed tossed it to the floor, the vial shattering upon impact. Kona ripped the IV's from her arm and sprinted towards the door, shoving past several more nurses in her path. She didn't want to hurt them but with no clue as to who they were working for that didn't mean she could trust them either.

With surprising force, the door burst open into a hallway of very confused workers. Security guards in dark uniforms came rushing around the corner in a great hurry. Instinct pumped adrenaline into her veins and she sprinted in the opposite direction, with no idea of where she was going.

It was a strange feeling. Her body felt weak from such a long period of disuse and yet her limbs were flooded with a strength she knew she hadn't possessed before. She could hear the pounding of boots behind her as she raced down the corridor in bare feet. The building had a very modern design and she would remember later taking note of the architecture similar to Avengers Tower. But if they truly meant to keep anyone captive in this place they had utterly failed, for whoever had designed it created a building so full of windows and natural light that Kona quickly calculated the fastest exit.

Another group of guards rounded the corner in front of her and Kona had to make some last minute adjustments to her escape plan. She was not going to be caught again. She could taste freedom for the first time in nearly a year and no one was going to keep it from her. Turning on a dime, she crashed straight through a glass door and onto an open balcony, deftly nicking a handgun from a flustered soldier without even a pause in her step. Vaulting over the balcony, she fell ten feet before landing nimbly with a grace that only comes from years of practice, although the gravel didn't feel very comfortable against bare feet.

Before her lay an open lawn carefully manicured up until the line of trees 500 meters to the north. If she could just make that sprint she'd be able to lose them once she made the forest. Willing her muscles to respond, she propelled herself forward with a speed she hadn't known she'd had. 100 meters, 200, 300, the end was in sight.

Suddenly with puff of jet smoke, a metal winged figure landed in her path with two handguns pointed directly at her. Yet to his surprise, she used her already built momentum to vault off of his shoulder and over his head before he could think twice about grabbing her. But just as freedom was in sight, a figure who just matched her speed barrelled towards her from the side and knocked the wind out of her lungs as he rammed her into the ground.

The world spun before her with spots of black as she threatened to lose consciousness while at the same time trying desperately to get her breath back. With a great gasp, her lungs suddenly decided to cooperate and she rolled onto her knees coughing fiercely. Her adrenaline drained, she could feel her limbs beginning to shake as the months of confinement caught up with her.

"We...don't want to hurt you," a strangely familiar voice said, nearly as out of breath as she was. Kona turned to see who had caught her and found herself staring fiercely into the eyes of none other that Steve Rogers, otherwise known as Captain America.

As hard as she tried to appear calloused, a bout of coughing shook her body and she became suddenly aware of the many injuries she sustained, though not from her flight. She wore white pants, much like hospital scrubs, and a white tank top for her arms were nearly covered in bandages. She could feel the sting of several deep cuts and hoped she hadn't popped the stitches.

"Well you haven't lost your fire now have you," she heard a deep voice rumble and looked up to see one rather familiar face.

"Nicholas J. Fury," she panted, a wry smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "I should've known."

Captain America bent down and offered a hand to help her up, which she accepted after a pause of hesitation. He may be a famous hero but he did just run her over. His icy blue eyes rested steadily on her for a moment as though trying to decide what to make of her before turning his attention to Fury, masking whatever thoughts he harbored like the hardened soldier he was.

Kona tried to keep her strength but her exhaustion was beginning to catch up with her and her knees started to wobble. Fury stepped forward to support her underneath her arm before she lost her balance completely.

"Girl, has it really been so long since you had help that you don't know how to recognize it?"

Kona looked at him with an eyebrow raised and handed him the gun she had taken. "Can you blame me for being cautious? I had no way of knowing you weren't Hydra." She tried to take a step forward before halting as the world spun before her. She really shouldn't have run so hard. Steve Rogers quickly stepped forward to put her other arm around his own shoulders. Normally Kona would have protested at the amount of help they were providing, but with her sudden bouts of vertigo she didn't exactly have much of a choice.

"Let's get...her back to the…medical bay…" she faintly heard Fury say before she once again lost consciousness.


	3. Chapter 3

For the second time that day, Kona awoke in a soft bed although this time her arms were free from cuffs and there were no doctors bustling about. Slowly, she opened her eyes to the soft light filtering in from the windows and carefully tried to sit up, acutely aware of how sore her whole body seemed to be.

"It'll take some getting used to I think," Fury said as he approached her bedside, handing her a glass of water.

"What, not being captive?" she questioned, taking the glass gratefully.

"Your new abilities." he said gravely, taking a seat next to the bed. "I'm afraid Hydra managed to "enhance" you."

"I'm not surprised."

"No?"

"With the amount of time they had me, it's more of a miracle that I'm alive rather than whatever they managed to do to me."

Fury peered at her with a look of deep concern. "How long were you held in that research facility?"

"I lost track after a few months," she said, downing the last of her water in one gulp, "but I would guess somewhere around nine months."

"Seems about right…"he mumbled, more to himself than in response.

Kona propped herself up on the pillows and turned to him with a serious look in her eye. "Fury...did any of my agents get captured by Hydra? Are any of them alive?"

The former director of SHIELD looked at his comrade with pain written on his face. "I'm sorry Kona, I saw the carnage myself, I checked the dogtags and ran them through your database. The only body not left to rot in the snow was yours and every base was deserted."

Kona leaned back against the pillows and stared up at the ceiling. She knew it was selfish to wish that perhaps Hydra had taken at least one of them, yet at the same time knowing that they had not shared her same tortured fate was a small comfort. She closed her eyes tight and sighed.

"Do you know yet what they did to me?"

Nick sighed and looked at her with a deepening sadness."We suspect that Hydra had managed to replicate, and improve, Captain America's super soldier serum."

"I thought that wasn't possible…" she said turning to him in shock.

"It's been seventy years, Kona. Technology has advanced so rapidly that it was only a matter of time before someone meddled with it enough to replicate it. We had just hoped it wouldn't be someone like Hydra."

"What do you mean by improved…?"

Fury reached for a file he had earlier placed on the table. Flipping through the pages, he opened it and laid it before her. "The super soldier serum as far as we know was only ever able to enhance the physical abilities of the subject," he said, pointing to a list of comparisons between Steve Rogers and herself. "You have displayed every single physical improvement present in Captain America, however, we suspect that Hydra also managed to enhance other sensory and mental abilities." He flipped to another page filled with doctor's notes and an image of a CAT scan stamped with a Hydra symbol in the corner. "These files were taken from the facility where they held you captive. A Dr. Sterner writes that you indicated "increased speed in computation and reflexes, as well as heightened acuteness in all five senses"."

"So in other words, I think faster and am more alert." she said, leaning back trying to take it all in.

"Precisely."

"Well it makes sense. When I came to - the first time - thinking I was in danger I suddenly felt more...alive. It was more than just a rush of adrenaline Nick, you know with my experience I've learned the difference and how to control it. This was different. I was processing things faster than I've ever known I could do."

"I think it will be a while before we know the extent to which you are enhanced." He rose from his seat and rested a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You should get some rest." Kona nodded quietly in agreement, feeling her fatigue begin to catch up with her once more and also feeling the need for a moment alone to process all she had just learned. Fury walked to the door and suddenly paused before turning around. "And there's...one more thing you should know," he said tentatively, and pulled out a small piece of paper. "During our examination, we found this branded into your left shoulder blade."

Kona took the piece of paper and the image she saw nearly made her want to vomit. A red and blistered Hydra symbol was glistening in the surface of her normally smooth skin. She slowly reached her right hand over her shoulder, hoping it wasn't true, yet sure enough she could feel the raised skin and the tender burnt sensation. Through all of revelations Fury had shown her she had managed to keep her emotions reigned, but this… She could feel tears begin to bite at her eyes and she shut them tight, letting the paper slip onto the floor. She heard Nick's quiet footsteps as bent down to retrieve it. "I am so sorry Kona."

* * *

"Seems like she took that rather well," Rogers commented as Fury approached him. They stood on a balcony behind one way glass overlooking Kona's room. Steve didn't like this secret invasion of privacy but he had reluctantly agreed with Stark that they needed to keep a close eye on her until they knew for sure that she held no mental influence from Hydra.

Fury sighed sadly. "'Seems' being the key word I believe. It will take some time for all of this to sink in and Kona has always been one to closely guard her emotions. I fear more for her reaction to the loss of her agents rather than her newfound abilities."

Steve nodded gravely. "That I can relate to."

"Perhaps," Nick said as they observed Kona finally fall into a deep sleep, "but there is one thing you need to understand, Rogers. Kona's agency was a lot more tight-knit than SHIELD ever was. They operated less on individual's missions and more in teamwork. She knew the names and skills of every agent under her command. They were a loyal and highly successful group. To lose something like that is to have lost something far more than SHIELD ever could have been."

Steve said nothing, simply pondering what Fury had said as the former director left him to his thoughts. He stared into the brightly lit room in which Kona now slept with a mixture of multiple emotions welling up inside him. He didn't know what he felt about this new Enhanced. She possessed the very serum which pumped through his own veins, something that both alienated him from her and brought a sense of kinship. Part of him wanted to do whatever he could to help her in her journey of discovery and yet the more selfish part wanted to distance himself from her as much as possible. She was the very embodiment of what they feared Hydra had accomplished, even back in his days before the ice, and that was not something to be easily dismissed.

Only time would tell which side won out in the end.


	4. Chapter 4

It had taken some sly persuasion, but Kona finally managed to convince the nurses that she was fit enough to exercise. Her muscles practically ached with disuse and if she spent one more day in that hospital bed someone was going to get the brunt of her frustration. So under careful monitoring from several doctors, they let Kona loose in the training room to do as she pleased.

She was recovering faster than she would have thought possible. Injuries like this should take her several weeks and yet it had only been five days since her escape attempt from the Avengers' new HQ. Her muscles were far more fit than they should be but she assumed that was some sort of side effect from the experiments. Steel would have been jealous.

Steel. She had tried not to think of them too much and yet the memories came to her mind unbidden as she abused an unfortunate punching bag. With every thought she hit harder as anger and grief swelled up inside her. Her expression hardened as she thought of the lives Hydra had taken, the lives they had stolen. She thought of her officers that had stood by her through thick and thin and the green probies that had never even had the chance to prove that. Perhaps it was those young lives she mourned for most. Her closest comrades had been in the business for years and had known for far too long that any mission could be their last. And yet the greenies had never even had it sink in fully before they were taught that very lesson in the cruelest way possible.

She tried not to envision it but couldn't help it as the sight unearthed itself in her mind's eye, the sight of cold faces and blank eyes as she lay waiting to succumb to her own wounds. It took her a moment to realize that the ripping, cracking sound was not from her memory but from the bag she had kicked so hard it had torn from the ceiling and strewn bits of sand in a line behind it.

"Agh, really?" she mumbled to herself, "Ruined a perfectly good bag, man."

 _Show off,_ she could hear Ryley saying.

"Shut up." she mumbled, her voice only slightly catching at the thought. She could feel her eyes beginning to warm and quickly grabbed a pair of sturdy batons lying on a table and moved to the next bag. Work always helped smother the pain.

This time she chose a slightly more stable target, a bag with several chains three times as thick, likely designed for an Avenger like Thor or Captain America. At the thought, she puzzled over the star spangled Captain. She hadn't seen him since the day she'd tried to make a run for it. Well, she hadn't spoken to him. She was not oblivious to the fact that the various members of the Avengers eyed her curiously wherever she went, whether through glass or not, as though she were some sort of new species on display, and she was fully aware of the attention she received from the Captain. She knew from the look in his eye that he didn't know whether to help or shun her and she didn't blame him. She was still trying to make out what she would say to him once he did finally decide to talk to her, not knowing if she should respond with a "Oh, hey...yeah sorry, I'm kind of the Hydra experiment that's haunted your nightmares…" or awkwardly dodge the subject altogether. What were you supposed to say to the man of whom you were virtually a copy?

But the real question was, what did they intend to do with her once she was fully recovered? Or perhaps the better question was, what would she do with herself? Her life and livelihood was gone, the very essence of her being taken. She couldn't imagine abandoning her training altogether, it was a part of who she was and not something easily discarded, if it were at all possible. She belonged in the field, in combat. Aside from undercover, she could never be a simple waitress or librarian or, heaven forbid, slapped with a desk job. She had been the Captain Director of the IMIA for far too long.

She chuckled softly to herself at the thought; the irony that she used to be called Captain and now, thanks to Hydra, who was she the essence of? At the thought of Hydra she rammed the baton into the bag with so much force that this time a large hole was blown through and sand began pouring out. One thing was for sure, if there was anything left of Hydra she would exterminate it no matter how long it took.

"Wow, you make more of a mess than Rogers does," she heard a voice say from behind and turned to see Natasha Romanov, or the Black Widow, approaching her.

Kona chuckled, twirling the batons in her hands. "I'd rather make a mess than be stuck in that hospital bed for another hour."

The Widow laughed softly in response and Kona saw her glance quickly at her brand behind her shoulder blade, plainly visible on account of the tank top she wore. For a moment, Kona tensed slightly before forcing herself to relax. She was going to have to get used to being walking propaganda.

Widow smiled, holding out her hand. "I'm Natasha Romanov."

"Kona...Donovan," she responded, accepting the handshake after an awkward pause. She had spent so many years telling no stranger her real name that she had forgotten what it was like to honestly make a new acquaintance, with no aliases or covers. She couldn't remember the last time people outside her agency knew who she was.

"You are quite a find, Miss Donovan. Gave a few of us a bit of a scare though when we could find absolutely no record of who you were."

"Ah, well you know how it is," Kona said with a sly smile. "There's a few things about me I'd rather the general public not know."

"Understandable, but it takes quite a bit of skill to have no record whatsoever. Even I'm not that clean."

Kona glanced at her with a mischievous glint. "A magician never reveals his secrets." she said with a grin and gave the next bag a decent hit.

Natasha chuckled and was silent for a moment as she watched Kona's technique. She possessed the strength of Captain America, that much was clear, yet she moved with a deadly grace that was absent in the World War II veteran. She was fast, decisive, and seemed surprisingly comfortable in her own skin despite the tinkering Hydra had done to it. She had perfect balance and deadly accuracy and even with Natasha's experience she felt glad the spy director was on their side. Going toe to toe with an opponent this experienced would be a challenge.

"So how are you settling in?" she asked.

Kona paused in her routine, a rather stern expression on her face. "I don't know. Am I supposed to be settling in? No one has exactly been helpful with the details. The doctors just poke, prod, and draw blood and you guys just stare at me like a display through glass windows."

"Well what do you want to do?"

Kona halted her abuse of the punching bag and lowered her batons. "If you want the honest answer I don't know anymore," she said quietly. "I have a list of what I could do but nothing very appealing."

Natasha nodded in understanding. "Well what could you do?"

Kona decided her routine was over and began unwrapping the straps she had put over her hands. "I could go under, disappear. No one would ever find me again. Or I could try the civilian life, although that sounds even less appealing than the first option."

"How so?"

Kona chuckled. "You of all people should know, Miss Romanov. An agent born of war is bred to never settle down. And anyway Kona the waitress or Kona the secretary doesn't exactly work with my skill set."

Natasha laughed. "Well since we've decided that you'd be wasted at a desk job, would you consider sticking around?"

"Work with the Avengers?"

She nodded. "We could help you discover your abilities," she said, walking toward the bag that was still leaking sand and inspected the large hole, "help you reign in that strength."

Kona was silent for a moment. "I'll have to think about it." she said quietly after a long pause.

Natasha nodded her understanding. "Take as long as you need." She turned to walk out but paused in the doorway and turned back towards Kona. "Fury trusts you, and any ally of Fury's is an ally of mine." Kona silently nodded her thanks and understanding, and with that Natasha left her to her thoughts.

* * *

"You know you're going to have to talk to her at some point," Natasha said as they returned to Stark's lab after a training session with the rest of the team.

Cap sighed and he swung his shield over his shoulder to fasten it to his back. "I know."

"What's holding you back?"

"I don't know what I should say."

"Well you don't have to start out talking about the serum." Nat said with a laugh. "You can just approach her as a friend. I think you two could get along."

Steve said nothing in response and she chose to drop the subject.

They entered the lab to find Stark, Fury and the rest of the team already gathered around a hologram projected in the middle of the room. "What've we got?" Steve questioned, coming to stand by Sam as they eyed the digital case file.

"A lead." Fury said simply.

"Finally. On what?" Widow said with a smirk.

"Captain Donovan's capture."

"I'm as much of a Captain now, Fury, as you are Director," a voice said, and the team turned in surprise to see Kona herself appear from who knows where. For much of the team, this was the first time they'd seen the mysterious agent in person and no one could deny the powerful presence she carried. She walked with the composure of an agent who'd spent most of her life serving as an intelligence officer, her body calm yet poised like a panther ready to strike should she be alerted to any danger.

"How long were you hiding there?" Nat said with a rather amused smile. Kona eyed her mischievously but gave no response, her gaze flicking briefly to Steve then back to Fury.

"Kona…" Fury said, deep concern etched on his face, "You shouldn't be here."

"I appreciate your concern, Nick, but if I stay in the medical bay for one more minute with nothing to tax my mind I'm going to lose it." Her face showed no hint of amusement. "And seeing that these files are mine, you could use my expertise. I've spent years tracking these persons of interest. I know some of them better than their own mothers."

Fury still didn't look convinced. "And I gave you access to my highly classified files that have never been open for anyone outside my agency… " Kona said. "You kinda owe me."

Fury sighed in defeat, recognizing that he didn't exactly have much choice in the matter and turned back to the screen. "Since the fall of SHIELD," he began, "I've managed to keep in touch with a few of my contacts. Once we stormed the Hydra base and Kona was able to give me better information, I set my contacts on high alert for any hint of Hydra's movements around the area where she was found."

"So did you find anything?" Stark asked.

An image of a middle aged man in glasses and a dark suit appeared on the screen. "This is Dr. Jonathan Sterner, part of Hydra's inner circle and developer of their primary weapons."

"Also known as the man who managed to "enhance" me," Kona commented, her voice low and dangerous.

The room was deathly silent and there was a long pause before Fury continued. "One of my contacts notified me this morning that he has been located just outside of New York City."

Kona turned to him in surprise. "He's here? In the US?" Fury nodded. "Then we need to move fast. It's not often that any of the inner circle steps foot on American soil, and when they do it's for a good reason. If we don't act quickly he will disappear before we can even catch his trail."

"Kona…" Fury began, "I don't think you need us to remind you, but you're not 100% yet."

"And you expect me to just sit here? Fury, if I stay one more day in this base constantly being poked, prodded, and worried over by a team of nurses I'm going to lose my mind. I'm fine."

"Kona, I know what he did to you but-"

"You don't know the half of it Nick!" she spat, her anger coming on swift and powerful. Even Stark took a tentative step backward at her force. All the grief, all the pain she had endured and kept bottled up inside was boiling and she couldn't stop it. "Hydra destroyed my life! They annihilated my home, my family. My life was crushed before my eyes! And then, when my body was broken and bleeding, they couldn't even give me the relief of death. Instead they came for me, patched me up and chained me like an animal, tested my body as though it were nothing more than an elementary chemistry set, pulled me apart and then stitched me together again," Her eyes were fierce and she could feel the oncoming tears begin to bite but she refused to let them fall as her voice turned to a deadly softness. "So don't you dare tell me you know, Nick Fury. Because you don't."

With nothing left to say, Kona left the room to dead silence. Once she was out of earshot Fury turned to Stark. "Tell F.R.I.D.A.Y. to lock her in once she reaches her room. We leave to nab Sterner first thing in the morning."

"Yeah that's probably a good idea," he said, his eyes still wide from the encounter. "You got that F.R.I.D.A.Y.?"

"Already on it boss."

Kona heard the door click behind her and a sly grin crept across her face. "Alright Fury, let's play and see how good your Avengers really are."


	5. Chapter 5

3:13 am. The base was silent. Only Kona was awake in the night, completely motionless as she layed on her back, seemingly fast asleep. A less experienced agent would have attempted an escape by now, but Kona knew a trick perhaps most didn't; the biological fact that human beings were most tired between the hours of 3:00 and 5:00. Even the most vigilant guards would be rubbing their eyes by now and the Avengers would be in a deep sleep. Kona herself would normally be feeling sluggish at this time of night but as she had suspected the serum seemed to fix that.

Without even glancing at a clock, she knew now was the time to act. Pretending to roll over sleepily, she put her back to the security camera in the corner and pulled out the smart phone she had nicked from a guard earlier. She quickly unlocked it from the fingerprints left plainly visible on the screen and set to work hacking Stark's system.

 _I'll admit it, Stark, your F.R.I.D.A.Y. is good,_ she thought to herself, for the procedure was taking longer than she expected. _Just one problem. I'm better._ The screen flashed with a green light as F.R.I.D.A.Y. was silenced, temporarily of course. She would turn back on in a few hours when the team started to stir but by that time Kona be long gone. She sent up a silent prayer of gratitude to her old friend Joey for having passed on his tricks.

She remotely lapped the surveillance video to her room and smoothly swung her legs over the bed, confident that her escape would not be caught on camera. In two strides she made her way to the closet and opened it, looking longingly at the coal black uniform that hung from the rack. "Hello old friend," she whispered and took it off the hook without another word. Slipping into it was like stepping into her own skin, familiar and comforting. She couldn't help but glance at the mirror and grin as she passed. Despite the torture she had endured at the hands of Hydra, Agent Donovan was back.

With the door now unlocked, Kona slipped silently out into the hallway, blending seamlessly into the shadows. Her boots were made of a specialized leather that made no sound as she crept down the corridor, knowing exactly where to step in the blind spot of cameras. She first made her way to the shooting range where she knew most of the common weapons would be kept. She selected two handguns and slipped them into her holsters, as well as a couple silencers and extra magazines. As she turned to leave, she paused upon noticing the pair of batons she had used earlier in practice and on a split second decision clipped them to the magnetic slot on her back. They had been surprisingly handy earlier, perhaps they could be of some use now.

Now armed, she quickly made her way to the garage. She glanced longingly at the Quinjets, aware that commandeering one of those would get her to New York fastest, but knowing also that they were simply too loud and too large. Not exactly inconspicuous. The SUV's at the back would also likely be too much of a hassle. Finally, she spotted a black bullet bike tucked away in the corner. Perfect.

She used the smartphone to scan for and fry any GPS tracking that may be on the bike and sure enough she heard a small spark as one was disabled. The keys to all the vehicles were foolishly hanging from pegs on the wall and Kona quickly found the appropriate key, as well as the helmet. Dropping the phone, she kicked off the brake and quietly rolled the bike out and onto the driveway. Surprisingly, she didn't spot any guards patrolling the perimeter. But then again, no one was expecting someone to sneak _away_ from the base and likely had a lot of faith in Stark's security.

Once she was a good three hundred meters out, she turned the key, the bike humming to life, and sped off into the night.

By the time Kona arrived in New York City two hours later, a hazy blue had settled over the sky as dawn approached. She looked down at the screen on her bike that was tracking Dr. Sterner's location. According to their intel, Hydra's golden scientist was held up in an abandoned warehouse near the docks at the edge of the city, less than ten minutes out. Kona breathed slowly and deeply in preparation for the op, feeling an alien, sharp sense of awareness begin to set in. That was something she'd have to get used to. Perhaps in time she would come to see her newfound abilities as a blessing, but for now it was time to make Hydra pay for the months of torture she had endured.

She parked the bike about half a block out and hung the helmet from the handle. She had already hacked into the bike's security system and encoded her fingerprint so she needn't worry about anyone stealing it. She could hear even the slightest scuffle of a leaf on the pavement and she even noticed with a slight shock that she had no problem seeing in the low light. Hydra would regret giving her such abilities, she thought gravely and slipped her night vision goggles back into the travel bag of the bike, realizing she wouldn't need them.

She crept silently to the back of the warehouse, avoiding the multiple security cameras, and pressed her ear to the wall. She could hear the tap of combat boots and low whispers inside, indicating about thirty Hydra agents. Kona bit her lip as she often did in concentration. How to take them all out without getting shot from thirty directions? Then she thought back to the notes in Dr. Sterner's file. _Specimen tested with night vision five times better than the average human being._ Perhaps it was time to put that to the test.

The lights in the warehouse winked out.

"Johnson! I thought I told you to check the breaker an hour ago!"

"I did, doctor!"

"Well go check it again! I can't work in the dark!"

"Yes sir!"

Boots scuffed on concrete as the officer rummaged in search of a flashlight. Then silence.

"Johnson!"

The only response was two thumps as two men hit the floor. The doctor nervously gripped the edge of the table as all around him men shouted as they reached for their guns before slumping unconscious to the floor in helpless heaps. Then silence.

"Hello doctor," a deadly voice whispered in his ear, and his heart jumped to his throat as a shiver ran up his spine. "Let's have a little talk, shall we?"

* * *

"She _hacked_ F.R.I.D.A.Y.!" Stark exclaimed, half frustrated half impressed. "How the heck did she manage to _hack_ F.R.I.D.A.Y.?! And with a smartphone?!"

The Quinjet sped across the clouds in the early morning light with impressive speed, Barton in the cockpit. "Don't ask me," he said, concentrating on the skies.

"I must admit, the question puzzles me as well," Vision stated. "I am unsure how Captain Donovan managed to infiltrate a system as equally sophisticated as J.A.R.V.I.S. was, and in so short a time. She must have extensive training."

"Do her Black Falcon files give any background as to her training?" Banner asked.

"No," Natasha responded. "I studied all of them, but she gave us very limited access and only to files pertaining to any connections with Ivan and Hydra, nothing on the Black Falcons themselves."

Tony whispered a few choice words under his breath. "I can't decide if I'm angry or impressed, but either way I am going to have a few words with that woman when we see her again."

"Only a few?" Natasha said with a grin.

"Why not just have Vision hack into her files?" Falcon questioned.

"I do not believe that would be a wise decision," Vision replied. "The system is incredibly complex and would take a great deal of time and energy to crack, which may prove futile for I suspect that many files are entirely on paper hardcopies with no electronic trail. There is no conceivable way they could have stayed under Hydra's radar without such a tactic. Yet regardless, if we wish to gain Captain Donovan's trust, it would be unwise to forcibly take such information without permission."

"Vision's right," Cap said, leaning against the side of the jet with his arms crossed. "If we want her as an ally, we can't start by infiltrating the information she's kept classified her entire career."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Stark mumbled. "As usual."

"We're here." Barton said, and the jet began to slowly descend. Tony jumped into his suit and Cap slipped his arm into his shield. No one was sure of what they would find.

Unable to find a suitable landing spot, Barton lowered the jet as close as he could to the top of the warehouse, about fifteen feet, as the team was let out the back. Barton set the jet at a leisurely hover about fifty feet above the warehouse, standing by in case the team required backup.

Stark scanned the building from above. "I'm getting a reading on thirty-six individuals, all alive but immobile. Except one."

"Did she really manage to take down that many Hydra operatives on her own?" Wanda asked, clearly impressed.

"Only one way to find out," Cap said, and kicked in the skylight.

He fell twenty feet and landed lightly, the scene before him not what he had expected. Thirty-four standard Hydra operatives sat bound and gagged against the walls, each perfectly spaced three feet apart. A single metal table stood at the center of the room covered in documents, with Kona sitting cross legged on top of them completely calm, watching the team descend with steady green eyes. Cap eyed her warily as he stepped around to see Sterner, bound to a chair and gagged, but apparently unharmed.

"About time you showed up," Kona said evenly.

"Well," Stark said, "I will say, this is not what I expected."

"And what were you expecting?" she said, smoothly uncrossing her legs and leaping from the table without hardly a rustle from the papers.

"If you want the honest answer, with your skill set I was expecting a room full of dead bodies."

Kona approached him in long, smooth strides, coming to stand tall before them. "I know you don't know much about me," she said, "but one thing you should know is that I _never_ kill unless absolutely necessary. If I did, I'd be no different than the monsters that created me." She glanced with a fierce eye toward Sterner, who cringed under her gaze. "He's all yours." Kona said calmly, and turned to walk past them.

Suddenly, Stark's arm shot out and gripped her arm tightly. "Where exactly do you think you're going?" he said, a tinge of anger in his voice.

"I have a few matters of business to take care of," she replied, glaring at him, "Some things to pick up."

"Oh, no. Not until I have a few words with you." he growled, and Kona could practically see him snarling behind the metal.

"Stark…" Cap said warily.

Kona's jaw was set in anger. "Let go of me."

Stark leaned in. "I don't think so."

The two stood there in pensive silence for a long moment, each glaring fiercely at the other. Then suddenly, Kona jumped and arced backwards before bringing her knees to her chest and using the momentum and almost every muscle in her body to release and swing herself forward, sending Stark flying over her head. He landed firmly on his back, knocking the wind from his lungs before Kona was on top of him, pinning his arms firmly to the ground. Stark stared at her in shocked silence as he heard the slow crunch of metal, Kona gripping his wrists so hard that the suit began to give way and suddenly he felt his confidence give way to a rare emotion; fear. She leaned in until her face was less than an inch from his face.

"Don't try that again," she said quietly, and suddenly released him. Stark gasped as his lungs suddenly decided to work again. Kona stood tall and glanced quickly at the rest of the team who stood in shocked silence, as though daring any of them to follow Tony's lead. Then she turned and walked straight out the front door.

To Kona's surprise, Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, followed her outside. "Captain," she said quietly, and Kona paused. Wanda stepped forward until she stood directly in front of her, though Captain Donovan's eyes seemed vacant, masking a pain she knew all too well. "If you are going where I think you are, you should not go alone."

"Perhaps I do need to be alone."

"But you don't have to."

"Why do you all bother trying to help me?"

"Because we know you are a good person, Captain, and we know what you've been through. Some of us, better than most." she said with a soft smile. "You had taken from you what you cared about most, something so essential to your being you feel empty, lost. I fear if you return to your base, the place where all your memories are kept… you may not come back, at least, not as you should."

"You lost your brother in Sokovia." Kona stated simply, and Wanda nodded.

"I lost the one person who cared for me most. A part of myself left this world forever with him, leaving a hole that no matter how much I wish I could fill-"

"It just gets deeper."

She nodded. "You will never lose that ache, but if you let them, new people come into your life and create new pieces. I still miss my brother, but I found new purpose and I turned out much better than I could have. I know he would be proud of me."

After a pause Kona nodded, and a silent agreement seemed to pass between the two women. She turned once more in the direction of the bike she'd left but didn't stop her from following. "Hope you don't mind riding on the back."


	6. Chapter 6

"Think she'll come back?" Stark asked Cap softly as they walked through the base.

Steve paused for a moment, his expression thoughtful. "I'd be surprised if she didn't. I can speak from experience when I say that someone from her background will be in search of another purpose. Hopefully, we'll be able to give it to her."

Stark simply nodded. Despite Captain Donovan's fiery disposition and the fact that she'd managed to hack his AI and crush part of his suit with her bare hands, he felt a measure of sympathy towards the former director. She'd lost everything, and not in a good way. He couldn't even begin to imagine the torture Hydra had put her through in the nine months they'd held her. He felt a shiver creep down his spine. _Nine months_ she'd been held. He made a mental note to attempt to have a psychiatrist take a look at her if she did return. Such a long period of forced confinement and torture could not have left her unscarred.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a jet engine he didn't recognize. Cap's interest peaked as well. "That's not a Quinjet is it?"

"No…" Tony said, utterly perplexed. "No it's not."

Cap glanced at him with a look of concern before he slipped his shield off his back and the two of them darted outside to get a better look.

A black jet of a design Steve had never seen before was descending from the sky with propulsion similar to that of the Quinjets, enabling it to land without a runway. Cap's grip tightened on the handle of his shield, apprehensive about where this plane came from and who was piloting it. By the time the aircraft's wheels hit the ground, every Avenger, with the exception of Thor, was outside prepared yet uncertain.

When the back of the jet opened and out stepped Wanda and Captain Donovan, Steve lowered his shield in surprise. He had expected her return but not so soon. He was even more surprised to see them carting several crates, with Wanda in charge of most of it with the help of her abilities. Seven crates were surrounded in a red haze as they hovered just above the ground. Yet as he would have expected, Kona would not be outdone and she still carried three cardboard boxes beneath her chin.

"I bare gifts," she declared.

Steve glanced at Tony to see his expression somewhere between surprise and a childlike curiosity at the new tech that had practically just landed in his front yard. As if sensing this, Steve heard her mutter "Don't even think about it" as she walked by.

Unsure of what else to do, the team quietly followed Kona inside. Wanda sent a few of the crates into Kona's bedroom but they continued on until they reached one of the common areas. Kona set the three boxes she was carrying next to the coffee table and upon opening them began to spread several files across the glass surface.

"What's all this?" Stark asked, looking at the thick files curiously.

"You wanted answers, you've got some," she said simply. She slapped a particularly large file onto the table with a bang. "I suggest you start with this one. And please, keep these organized." Unexpectedly, she turned on her heel and began walking down the hall.

"Where are you going?" Stark called after her.

"To shower, if you must know," she said, without turning around and left them to their research.

Stark glanced over at the team and shrugged before picking up the file she had first indicated. He flipped open the cover and stared at the first page in astonishment. "This… this is her file." Tony said incredulously. Natasha and Steve peered over his shoulder, their curiosity piqued.

 **Name:** _Kona M. Donovan_

 **Rank:** _Captain_

 **Predecessor:** _Kioni T. Donovan_ _(Deceased)_

 **Birth Date:** _12/06/1986_

 **Birthplace:** _Fairbanks, Alaska, USA_

 **Parents:** _Maya W. Donovan_ _(Deceased)_

 _Kioni T. Donovan_ _(Deceased)_

 **Education:** _B.S., Engineering, New York University_

 _Minor: Post World War I Technology - Emphasis: Aviation_

 _M.D., Mechanical Engineering, MIT_

 **Recruited:** _03/15/2004 (Probationary Agent)_

 **Promotions:** _05/03/2005 Agent_

 _11/27/2005 Head Agent_

 _07/08/2007 Special Agent_

 _10/11/2007 Head Special Agent_

 _12/09/2009 Chief_

 _12/30/2010 Captain_

 **Health Concerns:** _No known major health issues_

 **Specialties:** _Aircraft designer_

 _Sniper_

 _Undercover Operations_

 **Other Notes:** _Third generation IMIA agent_

 _Apprentice Probationary Agent: Jack V._

 _Reprimanded twice for unauthorized operations on foreign soil._

"Impressive resume," Natasha said quietly, and took the file from Stark to look through the rest of it, which consisted mainly of details on major operations carried out by Captain Donovan.

"There are files here on all of us," Bruce said, holding up the one with his picture inside the front cover. "Some even more detailed than SHIELD's…"

Steve looked at him in surprise "What? How?"

Bruce picked up another file and handed it to Cap. "See for yourself."

Steve took the file and was shocked to see that Banner was in fact correct. The file in his hands contained more detail about his own life and abilities than he had ever seen on SHIELD's records. Emphasis on _seen._ Who knew how much Fury still kept secret after the fall.

"It's a shame the organization is extinct now," Nat said, combing through multiple files, "I would have liked to meet some of these guys."

"Wait," Tony said, having a chance to further look into Kona's file, "This says Captain Donovan is an engineer specializing in aviation."

"Yeah…"

"Does that mean… she designed that plane out there?"

"Uh, yes," Banner replied, holding up blueprints, "Yes it does."

Steve could see a spark of admiration in Stark's eyes. "Dang, I'm going to have to pick her brain on that one. I've never seen engines designed like that."

"Wait a sec, why is Captain Donovan suddenly trusting us with this much information?" Nat questioned.

"Because she needs us," Wanda said quietly from the other end of the table, and everyone turned at the solemnity in her voice. "She is a… broken woman. I went with her to her old base. I saw the emptiness of a place that was once a home. I saw the last part of her die as she fully realized that every loved one important to her life is gone. She is lost and confused, with nowhere else to go. If we can't give her a home, a purpose, she may go underground and never come back out."

* * *

Kona stood still, letting the hot water run off her body. She didn't know how long she'd been there and she didn't care.

She hardly cared about anything anymore.

Her home was… gone. She played the moment in her mind, the moment that felt like a dream, walking through empty hallways, expecting to turn the corner and see Jack's grinning face or Steele's soft smile. But the walls were blank and stared back, apathetic, unyielding. They were gone. They were never coming back.

There was nothing left.

She hadn't realized she'd lashed out until she saw the cracked dent in the wall and the small cuts on her fist. She stared at the tiny drops of blood that mixed with the water. Why was she still alive when so many others had been slaughtered? A captain was supposed to go down with the ship and she would have gladly done so. Yet in a cruel twist of fate, when she had been lying in wait for god, the universe, or whatever it was that lay beyond death to take her, Hydra had decided they could still squeeze something useful from her body. So many times in those nine months she had begged for release. All those months of pain and Kona stood here now feeling numb.

Until finally the grief that she hadn't been able to let herself feel since Switzerland came crashing down in a wave, and she dropped to her knees, and freshwater mixed with salt as Captain Donovan - the leader, the survivor - finally broke.


End file.
